Annette and I took a recent day trip to the volcano Irazú. It was a beautiful drive, the roads were good and the traffic was light. All in all a perfect trip when you consider that to go anywhere in CR is usually a challenge. As we arrived at the volcano we were greeted with very cool temperatures and lots of sun. We walked the path to overlook the craters along with many tourists from different countries. The craters are not that impressive as craters go, but it was an exhilarating walk and Annette and I had time to take pictures and talk.
We then left and drove up to the highest point of the volcano and had an even better view of the craters. While staring down I remembered something...you know, that little piece of useless trivia that returns from somewhere in the recesses of your mind. I remembered that the last time Irazú erupted was March 19, 1963. Now that is not significant in itself except for it was the same day that President Kennedy visited Costa Rica! It is etched in the minds of all Ticos old enough to remember this event.
Fast forward about twenty years. In 1984, while a language student in Costa Rica, I am helping out on a church work day at our small church in Desamparados. We are taking down some old partitions in the old house where our church met in order to gain a little more worship space. As we begin to take down the ceiling in one area, dust and sand and something we could not explain was covering us. Matter of fact our eyes began to burn and we had to move away to regroup. The Ticos then began talking, in animated fashion, and somehow they helped me to understand that the sand was really ash from the volcano that had erupted in 1963. Ash that had been hidden in the attic of that little house for over 20 years.
Looking down on the crater I began to think about myself as a Christian. Am I transparent with others and with God or do I have a lot of "ash" hidden in the attic? I thought of the late President Kennedy, and how certainly much of his personal life was hidden from the public view. Many times we want to portray an image of what we think we should be or who we want to be, not who we really are. Pastors, evangelists, church members and even missionaries are caught in immorality so often now that it is commonplace and considered par for the course!
Paul said, that each of us will give a personal account to God (Romans 14:12). Christians live many times faking out the crowds, forgetting that the Father sees all! Let us all get rid of the ash hidden in the attic and live transparently before God and the world. Like the volcano our lives affect many people, some near others far away. Let´s pray that the influence will be positive.
Grace,
Mike & Annette
We then left and drove up to the highest point of the volcano and had an even better view of the craters. While staring down I remembered something...you know, that little piece of useless trivia that returns from somewhere in the recesses of your mind. I remembered that the last time Irazú erupted was March 19, 1963. Now that is not significant in itself except for it was the same day that President Kennedy visited Costa Rica! It is etched in the minds of all Ticos old enough to remember this event.
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